Folding table top hinge



Jan. 21, 1958 R. R. ERICKSON 2,820,242

FOLDING TABLE: To? HINGE Filed July so, 195s WMe/vins FLDHNG TABLE TOP HINGE Reynold R. Erickson, Forest Lake, Minn.

Application duly 36, 1953, Serial No. 371,295

2 Claims. (Cl. 16-164) This invention relates to a folding table top and more particularly to a shiftable hinge mechanism therefor.

In prior folding table devices of the type having paneled tops which collapse in compact folded relation, conventional hinge construction has generally been employed. The most common conventional hinge construction for this purpose has been a continuous type of hinge eX- tending from one side of the table top to the other, the hinge often being classified as a piano type hinge. Such hinge mechanism has been employed usefully by me in the construction of foldable tables both at the hinged joints which are formed at the uppermost apex of a pair of folded panel tops and at those joints constituting the lowermost fold of another pair of panel tops. This invention constitutes an improvement over the hinge construction disclosed in my previous Patent Number 2,514,319 entitled, Folding Table and Benches, issued July 4, 1950.

The conventional hinge is satisfactory for those top panels which form an upper apex at the hinged joint with the panels extending downwardly therefrom in collapsed position. In such case, the hinge is fastened to the under side of the marginal edges of each of a pair of abutting panels and when the panels are folded outwardly to lie in a single plane, the marginal edges can be made to abut smoothly with the hinge completely hidden. Food and other foreign particles must be kept out of the joint, however, since the hinged construction is such as to form a more or less continuous trough, the leaves of which act like a clamp device to trap material lodged therein.

Where the panels extend upwardly from the conventional hinged joint, the pivotal point must be at or above the common plane assumed by the panels when in flat and open position if it is desired to prevent a gap from existing between .the panels when so operatively opened. The central pivot of the hinge then forms a hump or offset ridge above the plane of the panels which amounts to a trap for food particles and is annoying to those using the table. Obviously, the best arrangement for a hinged table is that which will cause the panels to presenta single smooth and unbroken surface when in open operative position.

It is therefore an important object of this invention to provide a hinge construction for folding table top panels wherein the panels may be swung inwardly in close face to face relation when the table is collapsed and conversely which may be swung outwardly to a horizontal single plane with the marginal abutting edges of the panels in perfect register.

It is another object of the invention to provide a hinge mechanism employing pivoted links for inwardly and upwardly folding adjoining panels to collapsed position in which the joint and hinge mechanism will be substantially open and free and will so remain until both of the panels are swung downwardly into abutting relation, the struc- Z,8Z,Z42 Patented Jan. 2l, i958 ture surrounding the link pivots providing bracing against lateral movement at all times in the swinging movement.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hinge mechanism of the class described in which each of a pair of abutting panels may be swung from a horizontal to a vertical position independently of the other.

it is a still further object to provide a stable, simple and inexpensive hinge construction which will be strong and serviceable and which can be easily attached, detached and repaired, the hinge being attachable to the under side adjacent a square-edged table top panel without the necessity of recessing or otherwise specially forming the contours of the panel.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of my hinge mechanism attached to the under side of a pair of abutting table top segments, the operative horizontal position of the panels being shown in full line and the upwardly collapsed position being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of my hinge construction in horizontal position; and

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of my hinge construction, the table top structure being shown in fragment, and the right hand upper mounting member being vertically sectioned to better show detail of structure.

Referring now more particularly .to the drawing, my hinge mechanism is indicated generally at H and is adapted to be secured to a supporting structure S such as the leg framework of a folding table. The table top is indicated generally at T and comprises a pair of sections or panels l0 and il. The sections or panels lil and il have square-edged margins which are in abutment at the inner faces l2 as shown in Fig. l and the top surface of each of the panels lies in a single plane i3 in perfect register with the sections or panels in their horizontal position shown in full line.

My special hinge construction comprises a mounting element M which in turn consists of a lower mounting member 14 attached to the supporting structure S and forming a part thereof and one or more upper mounting members, for example, a pair of mounting members l5 as shown in Fig. 2. Where both the table top panels itl and 11 are movable to collapsed upstanding position with the inner ends 12 down and the outer ends thereof up a second pair of upper mounting members i6 may be disposed oppositely the first pair i5. All four of the upper mounting members may be attached to the lower mounting member on the supporting structure S as shown. It is understood that the lower mounting member could be extended in fixed relation with the supporting structure of which it forms a part so as to accommodate any convenient number of hinged mounting members.

'The supporting structure S and the lower mounting member 14 areginterconnected by a central recessed brace 17 at notched portions 18 in the side portions of the lower mounting member 14 as shown in Figs. l and 3. The mounting member M may be secured with the supporting structure S or may rest upon the top thereof secure against lateral displacement. The outer portions of the lower mounting member M are each pressed into a U- shaped bend to form spaced flanges 19 at the outside and 2t) at the inside. The anges 19 and 20 constitute the outer portion of the lower mounting member in which the recessed or notched area 18 is cut. y The upper edge of the outer flange 19 lies in a horizontal plane with the upper surface 21 of the mounting member M.

In the form shown, duplicate and diametrically oppositepairs of anged members 19 and 2@ are formed, each having a vertical spaced parallel relation and lying normal to the interface 12 between the abutting table top panels 10 and 11 when they are in their operative horizontal position.

The upper mounting member 15 has a pair of side flanges 22 and 23 which may be bent from a single sheet of stock in a U-shape as shown in Fig. 2. The spacing` between the side iianges 22 and 23 is preferably the same as that between the flanges 19 and 20. The lower edge of the upper mounting element 15 is preferably flared outwardly at 24 as shown in Fig. 3 and forms a plane which is parallel to the under surface 10a of panel 10. The internal space between the flanges 22 and 23 continues downwardly through the flare 24 as shown in Fig. 2. At the upper edge of the flanges 22 and 23 a mounting plate 25 is fixed, the plate having means for fastening to the under side of the table top panel lil adjacent the abutting edge 12. Such means may take the form of screw holes 26 through which wood screws may be driven home to secure the upper mounting member 1S in position against the panel 10. A pair of stiff connectors or links 27 and 23 are pivotally secured to the upper mounting member 15 at 29 and 30 respectively. The lower ends of the stiff connectors or links 27 and 28 are respectively pivoted at 31 and 32 to the supporting structure and lower mounting elements as shown. The pivot points may constitute loose pins having a head at one end such as the head 31a on pin 31 and a retaining key 31h at the opposite end to retain the pin across the flanges 19 and 20. Link 27 is mounted on pin 31 as previously I explained and is similarly attached to the pin 29 across the flanges 22 and 23 of the upper mounting member 15. It is to be noted that the connectors or links 27 and 28 are angled generally upwardly and inwardly toward the abutting interface 12 between panels lil and 11. Also, they lie preferably within the spaces formed between flanges 22 and 23 as well as 19 and 20 in the same plane or at least in a plane which is perpendicular to the table top T and to the abutting interface 12. The pivot pins 29 and 30 lie in spaced relation preferably less than the distance between the pivot pins 31 and 32 which are secured across the lower mounting member 14. ln order to get the particular hinged effect which I desire, the connector or link 27 must be slightly longer than the con` nector or link 28. Where I take advantage of the lateral bracing effect of the spaces or channels between the flanges with respect to the links disposed in a common plane therein, the links will interfere with one another unless provision is made for an intertting offset or recess in one of the links as shown in Fig. l. I prefer simply to offset or bend the link 27 so as to create a recess 33 into which the upper end of link 28 will tit when the table panel 10 is swung upwardly as shown by the dotted line positions of links 27 and 28 in Fig. 1. The recess may be formed to provide a stable stop for the hinge when the panel is in vertical position.

It is understood that each of the upper mounting members 15*15 and 16-16 Ican be supplied with the same arrangement of flanges, links and pivot pins, the orientation of the same being reversely dispos as shown in Fig. 1. The pair of upper mounting me bers 1S thus are attached to the under surface of panel 10 and the upper mounting members 16 are attached to the under surface of panel 11 as shown.

In the use and operation of my folding table top hinge mechanism H, I merely raise the panel 10 from its horizontal position shown in full lines in Fig. l to the vertical position shown in dotted line. The upward swinging or shifting of panel 10 causes the abutting forward edge at the inner face 12 thereof to recede outwardly and at the same time to initially rise slightly. As the panel is shifted further, the edge 12 will be positioned directly downwardly with the entire panel being disposed in a vertical direction with the plane still parallel to the longitudinal direction of supporting structure S. It will be noted that the particular movement is achieved through the pivotal spacing of the links 27 and 28 and the selec` tion of lengths of the links. in order to achieve the desired folding characteristics, the rearward link 27 from the abutting edge of the table panel 1t) must be the longer of the two links. As the table top recedes, the radius of link 27 causes the table to rise more rapidly at the rearward portion than at the abutting edge 12. Then as the table top continues to be lifted, the pivot pin 29 will cross over the pivot pin Sti and ultimately assume the position shown in dotted line in Fig. l. The links and pins may be so arranged and aligned as to form between each longer link and its corresponding shorter link an abutting stop which will hold the panel 10 in exactly vertical or in over-center position if so desired. When the panel 10 is again lowered, the reverse movement of the pivot pins takes place until the lower parallel edge 24 of the upper mounting member 15 will abut against the horizontal surface 21 which forms the upper portion of the U-shaped flanges 19 and 2i) on the lower mounting member. As will be readily perceived, the panel 11 operates in exactly the same manner with the linkages being diametrically reversed. Thus, when the corresponding lower edge of the upper mounting member 16 comes into contact with the lower mounting member 14, the two table panels 10 and 11 will be in perfect register without any of the hinge elements being visible. On the other hand, when the two panels 10 and 11 are swung to upper position a substantially open passageway is created so that food crumbs and foreign material can drop through and be easily cleaned therefrom. It will also be observed that each of the panels 10 and 11 may be shifted independently of the other from one position to the other. This is especially useful where the panels or sections are hingedly attached to other panels or sections and the combined panels are too heavy to be lifted simultaneously at both sides.

lt may thus be seen that I have devised a unique and simule hinge construction for folding table panels in which an abutting joint in perfect register is obtained between the table surfaces yet which will separate completely to allow cleaning and to stabilize the folded positions of the panels. The foregoing has been accomplished without expensive hinge mechanism and special wood working preparations such as recessing and offsetting the table top material to receive any portion of the hinge mechanism. My mounting element is simply secured to both the leg and frame structure of the table as well as to the dat and plane under-surface of the table panels.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. A hinge construction particularly designed for use with a panel section adapted to be swung from horizontal operative position into upstanding inoperative position, said hinge comprising an upper mounting member, a lower mounting member, at least one of said mounting members being provided with a pair of opposed closely spaced upright liange plates, a pair of generally flat connector links, of a thickness slightly less than the spacing between the flanges and of different lengths, pivotally interconnecting said mounting members, said links being interposed edgewise between said closely spaced flange plates in close face-to-face slidable relation therewith and lying generally in an upstanding plane defined between said plates, said plates engaging the side faces of said links and having sufficient vertical depth so as to engage in abutted weight supporting relation the other mounting member when in said operative position, the longer of said links being generally L-shaped with the offset portion thereof when in said inoperative position, being disposed above the upper pivotal `connection of the shorter link to accommodate the upper end portion of said shorter link and permit the upper pivotal connection thereof to pass from one side to the other of the line of centers through the upper pivotal connection of the longer link and the lower pivotal connection of the shorter link to produce an overcenter self locking action when in said inoperative position.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 wherein a pair of opposed closely spaced upright ange plates are provided on both mounting members, and said links are interposed between both pairs of ange plates in close faceto-face slidable relation to provide lateral stability for the links, said flange plates having suicient vertical depth to provide abutted weight supporting edges when in said operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Holtzmann Nov. 4, 1902 Englerth Sept. 14, 1909 Killian Mar. 15, 1910 Gras Apr. 30, 1914 Drlica May 27, 1919 Covi June 27, 1922 Aldeen Dec. 29, 1931 Lefevre Aug. 18, 1936 Baker Sept. 20, 1938 Hall Dec. 19, 1939 Erickson Nov. 15, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS Sweden Mar. 8, 1927 

